Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Green Shipping Foster Carbon Neutrality
The Government has proposed to establish the National Centre of Excellence in Green Port and Shipping  recently. The Centre would aim to identify the technologies, alternative fuels, renewable energy sources and targets for the shipping and port sector to reduce GHG emissions in line with the Govt. of India commitment for the sector. The legal framework developed by the centre will support research and cooperation on green shipping and will aid to formulate policy that will best
suit the industry. The Center will work with all ports, shipping companies, and maritime states to understand their problems and offer solutions based on research.
The broad focus areas of NCoEGPS are as follows:
- Policy, Regulatory and Research
- Human Resource development
- Network- Key Partners and Strategic collaborators
- Explore- Area of work, outcomes, projects and resources
- Engage- Past events, upcoming events, dissemination
The Government has recently announced the establishment of National Centre of Excellence in Green Port and Shipping  which is India’s first CoE for Green Ports and Shipping. The Memorandum of Agreement was signed on November 18, 2022 between Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways  along with Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla;Paradip Port Authority,Paradip; V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority,Thoothukudi; Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi& The Energy & Resource Institute .
The details of NCoEGPS are as follows:
- NCoEGPS will provide policy and regulatory support for developing regulatory framework and alternate technology adoption road map for Green Shipping to foster carbon neutrality and circular economy  in the shipping sector in India.
- The NCoEGPS will be housed at and led by ‘The Energy and Resources Institute’  as a knowledge and implementation partner.
India has been selected as pioneer lead country for International Maritime Organization Green Voyage 2050 Project which is funded by the Government of Norway. It assists developing countries in their efforts to reduce GHG emissions from ships. India has been selected by IMO Green Voyage to be the first country for piloting green shipping projects and coordinated by Directorate General of Shipping. Five projects were selected under Green Voyage 2050, out of which Assam Inland Water Transport development society  was selected for passenger ferries procurement and involved development of alternate fuel solution in these ferries by IMO Green Voyage Team and Directorate General of Shipping. A working group has been established under coordination of Directorate General of Shipping and IMO Green Voyage 2050 team and includes members from World Bank and AIWTDS to find a suitable alternate fuel for such ferries and, availability and supply of such fuel in Assam and ship technologies for operation on such fuel in India.
The NCoEGPS will be housed at and led by The Energy and Resources Institute  as a knowledge and implementation partner. The Centre will be a host of several technological arms to support the port and shipping sector and will provide solutions to a variety of problems being faced in the industry through scientific research. It will also carry out valuable education, applied research and technology transfer in maritime transportation at the local, regional, national and International levels. It will focus on the following areas:
- Energy Management - Energy management tools, waste energy recovery systems
- Emission Management- Alternate, clean Energy/Fuel, emission control & monitoring.
- Sustainable Maritime Operations – novel technologies and approaches
The other steps being undertaken are:
- Government of India has permitted use of sustainable biofuels and its blends as fuels in Indian ships with the objective to reduce fossil fuel usage and to encourage renewable energy in ship operations.
- As part of its digitalisation efforts for the maritime sector aiming at emission reduction, digital platform for the marine environment management for ships operating in Indian coast was launched. The digital portal facilitates the ships to have simple, paperless online reporting of fuel oil consumption, ballast water exchange and all pollution related information, including the ship generated marine wastes, single use plastics, etc.
- The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has recently published an all- encompassing Maritime India Vision 2030 document.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.